Question: The scores on a statewide chemistry exam were normally distributed with $\mu = 61.60$ and $\sigma = 6$. Ishaan earned a $79$ on the exam. Ishaan's exam grade was higher than what fraction of test-takers? Use the cumulative z-table provided below. z.00.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.09 2.0 0.9772 0.9778 0.9783 0.9788 0.9793 0.9798 0.9803 0.9808 0.9812 0.9817 2.1 0.9821 0.9826 0.9830 0.9834 0.9838 0.9842 0.9846 0.9850 0.9854 0.9857 2.2 0.9861 0.9864 0.9868 0.9871 0.9875 0.9878 0.9881 0.9884 0.9887 0.9890 2.3 0.9893 0.9896 0.9898 0.9901 0.9904 0.9906 0.9909 0.9911 0.9913 0.9916 2.4 0.9918 0.9920 0.9922 0.9925 0.9927 0.9929 0.9931 0.9932 0.9934 0.9936 2.5 0.9938 0.9940 0.9941 0.9943 0.9945 0.9946 0.9948 0.9949 0.9951 0.9952 2.6 0.9953 0.9955 0.9956 0.9957 0.9959 0.9960 0.9961 0.9962 0.9963 0.9964 2.7 0.9965 0.9966 0.9967 0.9968 0.9969 0.9970 0.9971 0.9972 0.9973 0.9974 2.8 0.9974 0.9975 0.9976 0.9977 0.9977 0.9978 0.9979 0.9979 0.9980 0.9981 2.9 0.9981 0.9982 0.9982 0.9983 0.9984 0.9984 0.9985 0.9985 0.9986 0.9986
Solution: A cumulative z-table shows the probability that a standard normal variable will be less than a certain value (z) In order to use the z-table, we first need to determine the z-score of Ishaan's exam grade. Recall that we can calculate his z-score by subtracting the mean $(\mu)$ from his grade and then dividing by the standard deviation $(\sigma)$ $ { z = \dfrac{x - {\mu}}{{\sigma}} = \dfrac{79 - {61.60}}{{6}} = 2.90} $ Look up $2.90$ on the z-table. This value, $0.9981$ , represents the portion of the population that scored lower than $79$ on the exam. Ishaan scored higher than $99.81\%$ of the test-takers on the chemistry exam.